Prologue
Alice Rose
Croke Park
Dublin, Ireland
18 Months Ago
I twisted my fingers behind my back.“Um, Harper?”
Harper Grey, our tour manager, turned and smiled.“Hey, Alice.What’s going on?”
I shifted my weight.My heartbeat thundered in my ears.“While I was packing up the equipment, I found someone’s drug stash.”
Harper closed her eyes and cursed.
“It’s not mine,” I babbled on.“I’m willing to do whatever drug testing you need to do.But it’s, uh, bad.The usual blunts and rolling paraphernalia, but also some vials of um, white powder…”
“Fuck.Show me.”
I cringed and headed for the door.Harper followed me through the twisty corridors heaving with people to the large room where we’d housed the instruments.Guitars, microphones, and a few drums littered the space.I headed for the boxes in the far corner.My hands only slightly shook as I opened one and then gestured for her to come over.
Harper approached the box like I was hiding a venomous snake inside—all tentative and afraid to look.
But it wasn’t a snake.At the bottom of the box, inside the inverted drum was the paraphernalia I’d described, including three small vials of white powder.
“Shit.”
Harper scowled, and I could all but see her thoughts flit across her face.She was no doubt counting up all the charges we’d be facing if customs had found it instead of me.And all the suspects who could’ve placed it here.Me.Noah.The opener’s drummer, Ian.So many countless roadies and crew members who all had access to the space.Security.Venue employees.
Too many suspects to narrow it down.
“Right.Was there anyone in the room or the vicinity?”
I shook my head.“I ran into Grady in the hallway on the way here.But the room was empty while I was organizing gear.”
Which only added Jesse’s bass tech to the long list of suspects.
“Okay.I need you to go through all your gear and make sure there aren’t any other surprises.We’re supposed to ship to England tomorrow, and that means customs checks.The last fucking thing we need is for them to find more.Or shit, anything.”She picked her way through the mess of boxes to the door.“And I’ll call the other techs and get them in here to run the same checks on their gear.”
Harper paused and toggled her headset on.“Marisol.Come in, Marisol.”After a beat she continued, “Page all the instrument techs and have them—”
She broke off as Noah slid into the room.He visibly jolted when he spotted her.His eyes darted straight to me kneeling over the drug stashed box in the corner.I swore I saw fear in his eyes before he straightened and tried to look unaffected.
My heart sank all the way to my toes.
They were Noah’s drugs.
“Belay that,” Harper barked into her headset.“I think I have everything I need here.Tell Xander that I’m busy right now, and I’ll see him back at the rental.”Then she keyed off the mic and shook her head.“Why?”
Noah blinked lazily and slouched against the wall.“Why what?”
“You know exactly what.Do you have any idea how much trouble we would be in if customs found your stash?How much troubleIwould be in?I’m the person in charge.I’d be the one pulled in for questioning.I’d be the one with their ass on the line.What the fuck is wrong with you?”
All the fake levity fell away as the expression in his eyes hardened.“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.And I resent the hell out of the way you’re speaking to me.I just came in here looking for Diego.Someone said they saw him in here earlier.If you found a stash, it ain’t mine.”
A muscle flexed in Harper’s jaw.
